Bridgepoint Education ends first day up 5.7 percent

By Phil Wahba

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bridgepoint Education Inc (BPI.N) shares finished their first day of trading on Wednesday up 5.7 percent, following the college operator's initial public offering, which priced below expectations.

The shares opened at $10.50 on the New York Stock Exchange -- the same level at which they priced in Tuesday's IPO, or 30 percent below the midpoint of the deal's estimate range -- and rose as much as 11.1 percent before closing at $11.10.

Its debut performance made Bridgepoint's IPO the third in a row to see a first day "pop," or price jump.

San Diego-based Bridgepoint Education sold 13.5 million shares, raising $141.75 million in the IPO, the third on a U.S. exchange this year.

"Given the state of the market, investors will always be looking for a discount," said Matt Therian, an analyst with Connecticut-based research firm Renaissance Capital.

"It shows that a deal can get done, if it is priced right."

Bridgepoint, owned primarily by Warburg Pincus, also ended the stock market's longest-ever span without a venture-capital backed IPO, according to Thomson Reuters data. The last venture-backed deal to go public was by technology company Rackspace Hosting Inc (RAX.N) last August.

In a statement Wednesday, Bridgepoint said 74 percent of the shares sold in the IPO were offered by selling stockholders. In its last regulatory filing prior to the IPO, Bridgepoint had said that figure would be 81 percent.